September 2025

How ever much you want to, you can never see the world through someone else’s eyes but in the split second it takes for a camera shutter to blink, you can at least take a glimpse!

On a visit to the archive earlier in the year I was asked if I was interested in archiving some 35mm slides taken by the late John Zebedee. I had a look in a couple of the boxes, was impressed with what I saw and so instantly said yes.

From the contents of the six large boxes, it was evident that he knew his way around Reading and surrounding districts and had his own favourite positions from which to fire away but there was a small group of shots spread out through the boxes - these came from somewhere far more exotic and one of them in particular caught my photographer’s eye! In August 1991 AEC Regent III No.4 went abroad and, as can be seen in this photograph, passed through a village called Silly in the Wallonia district of Belgium.

I wonder what was the internal monologue that was going on in his head? Did he see the shot before he got off the bus or did it come to him after he’d wandered about?

RCT/JZC/PHS
Archive Item of the Month, Sept 2025